The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duker, has intimated that government’s fight against illegal mining known as ‘Galamsey’ is still on course and not unsuccessful as being purported.
According to Mr. Duker, contrary to suggestions that government has been unsuccessful in the fight, it has rather stepped up its anti-‘galamsey’ drive with a series of interventions. He stated that the campaign to restore and save the country’s water bodies is witnessing major progress as some water bodies are experiencing a turnaround.
George Mireku Duker indicated that government has procured 100 Gold Katcha machines to prevent the usage of mercury by small scale miners which will also help attract 90% of the threshold out of the ore processed by these miners. The move, he stated, will bring some life and confidence in their operations.
The Deputy Lands Minister stated that land reclamation, alternative livelihood programme, Gold traceability and the establishment of a refinery are some of the key interventions being rolled out by government to promote responsible mining and make Ghana the preferred mining hub of Africa. According to Mr. Duker, the purchase of five modern speedboats for patrol on major waterbodies by the river guards, will complement the effort of the Military to prevent any illegal mining activities on the rivers.
Galamsey fight and digitalization
Mr. Mireku Duker touching on digitalization and the fight against illegal mining mentioned that mining equipment are being tracked. He stated that the tracking of all mining equipment will serve the purpose for which they were imported into the country. “The system can be operated centrally and remote controlled in the various concessions.”
“This will prevent the situation where people bring the equipment into the country under guise of undertaking legitimate mining business only to use them for something completely different. The machines will however, be rendered ineffective should they go beyond the boundaries designed for them.”
George Mireku Duker
Honorable Mireku Duker further noted that licensed concessions will have QR codes that will make it easy for verification. He averred that this move will enable government reduce unlicensed concessions which will positively affect the fight against illegal mining.
The Deputy Minister stated that the retooling of the inspectorate divisions of the mining committees is another intervention being taken by the government on the fight against illegal mining. Mr. Duker noted the anti-galamsey taskforce (Operation Halt), the District Mining Committees and their respective inspectorate divisions would have vehicles to empower them discharge their duties effectively.
Commenting on the Community Mining Scheme, the Deputy Minister disclosed that jobs have been created and government has also out doored an operational manual to guide and promote responsible mining thereby promoting locals in the small-scale mining arena. “About 51,000 direct jobs have been created across five mining regions of the country.” According to Mireku Duker, Ghana will not only concentrate on gold mining but also promote industrial minerals such as quarry and salt operations.
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